Bud May Not Sponsor Earnhardt, Jr. Next Season

Budweiser officials have begun looking for a driver to replace Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as their primary spokesman for next year's NASCAR season.

According to sources, Budweiser is talking to Evernham Motorsports about moving the Budweiser sponsorship to the number 9 car driven by Kasey Kahne.

According to Evernham Motorsports, no deal with Bud has been reached and they are currently talking to a number of companies about sponsorships for next season.

Ray Evernham, owner of Evernham Motorsports, has an agreement in place for Dodge to sponsor his cars, both Kahne's and Elliot Sadler's cars, through 2010 and they would have to sign off on any deal allowing Bud to sponsor Kahne's car.

It is also possible that Bud could stay as a sponsor for Dale Earhardt, Inc. and they could sponsor any new driver that they sign.

Budweiser has been a sponsor at DEI and a sponsor of Dale Earhardt, Jr's since his rookie season in 2000.

Bud is considering four drivers to be their sponsor for next year, including Kahne. It is not known at this point who the other three drivers are.

Pepsico is expected to be the next sponsor of Earnhardt, Jr. for next season, possible with the Mountain Dew brand or possibly a variety of different Pepsi products.

Pepsi has been an associate sponsor at Hendrick Motorsports for Jeff Gordon and they sometimes appear on the hood of Gordon's number 24 car.

Pepsi sponsored the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway, but that deal has ended as International Speedway Corp., operators of Daytona, have signed a new agreement with Coca-Cola.

Pepsi could now be looking for more exposure because of losing the Pepsi 400 and could get a boost by sponsoring Earnhardt. He could have a variety of Pepsi products on his hood next season including some combination of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Mug Root Beer or Gatorade. It is also speculated that his primary hood sponsor could be Mountain Dew.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. announced earlier in the year that he intended to leave Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and, after a long decision, he finally signed with Hendrick Motorsports.